


The Mistletoe Defense

by roolsilver



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: M/M, Mistletoe, Secret Solenoid
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-01
Updated: 2019-01-01
Packaged: 2019-09-30 08:28:04
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,085
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17220428
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/roolsilver/pseuds/roolsilver
Summary: In everyone's defense, it was all Swerve's fault.  Swerve started it, at least.





	The Mistletoe Defense

**Author's Note:**

> For Melly, for Secret Solenoid 2018. This is the first ever work I've done for someone else, thanks for inspiring me!

In everyone's defense, it was all Swerve's fault. Swerve started it, at least. No-one was sure exactly where he had gotten the decorations, but everyone noticed when fist-sized balls of green leaves and white berries popped up just inside the doors to the bar, each hung on a bright red ribbon. With rumors and misinformation running unchecked through the Lost Light, Ultra Magnus soon added guideline sheets to several of the tables, about the origins and traditions of the plant called mistletoe and its place in the history of Earth. The dry, factual information compiled in the style of an official report did very little to stop the chaos, and unfortunately seemed to have even given some of the crew more ideas.

In Drift's defense, the whole thing was like something out of a cheezy romantic holo-vid. The kind he absolutely did not ever watch, even in the privacy of his hab when Rodimus and Ratchet were both on duty and couldn't burst in and catch him. When he read through the History of Mistletoe that Ultra Magnus had compiled, inside the dry facts he found a beautiful sentiment- a promise of love and hope for the future. He knew it was silly- he wasn't human, and there would be no 'children' from any union of his, but he couldn't help the warm feeling in his spark that came when he thought about that kind of public display with the mech he was courting. Ratchet would think it was ridiculous, he was sure, but he couldn't keep his optics from straying towards the decor anytime they were in Swerve's together.

In Ratchet's defense, there was very little he wouldn't do for his courtmate. After all the waiting, the journey to find him and bring him back, giving up his position as CMO... Well, he'd had enough of being reasonable when it came to Drift. So when he noticed the way his lover fidgeted and cast significant glances at the organic decorations in the bar, instead of just going about his business and letting Drift stew until he (maybe) brought it up, he sat him down in their habsuite and asked him right out.  
"Why is this even important to you?"  
Drift squirmed in his chair and his finials heated with embarassment, but Ratchet gave him time to find the words.  
"I dunno... For the humans, it used to be kind of a ritual. A pair of mates that vow to stay together, who want to create and raise their littles together, they kiss under this plant, and they take one of the seeds. It's like a signal to the people around them, that they're...serious. That they want to make a permanent bond."  
Ratchet rolled his optics and pressed at his nasal ridge, but he couldn't keep a smile from forming. His courtmate was absolutely soft on the inside.  
"...Let me think about it."  
That was nearly as good as a yes, and Drift knew it. Now he just had to inspire Ratchet to act. It took two more days of Drift stroking along plating and teasing at seams before Ratchet pinned the enthusiastic speedster to the wall in Swerve's by the mouth. Nowhere near the first to make a spectacle of themselves under the mistletoe, a quiet cheer ran through the bar almost by habit as Ratchet grinned and gripped the backs of Drift's thighs, lifting him further up the wall so he could retrieve one of the white berries before letting him slide down with a teasing grope and settle into another laughing kiss.

In Brainstorm's defense, it worked for Drift. Hang around under the missle-tow long enough and the mech you're interested in has to kiss you eventually! True, he hadn't done more than glance at the odd little info-sheets on the tables at Swerve's, but it seemed to be fairly effective. A few extra balls of greenery found their way into the lab, but instead of sweeping Brainstorm into a passionate kiss to express his feelings of attraction and affection, Perceptor seemed to take personal offense to the decorations. For every cluster of leaves Brainstorm would attach to the ceiling, he would find a destroyed pile of faux plant matter in the refuse bin. The obvious solution, then, was to hang more. With the whole crew getting in on the events in and around Swerve's, eventually Perceptor was sure to catch on!

In Perceptor's defense, it was a Brainstorm Bad Idea from the start. If Brainstorm hadn't decided to clutter the lab with ridiculous organic matter, Perceptor would never have gotten irritated by it constantly being in the way. If Perceptor hadn't been pushed past the brink of frustration, he never would have started shooting the decorations down. If Perceptor hadn't been used to blasting the little balls of leaves and berries, he never would have forgotten and done it to the one that caught his attention as he was passing by Swerve's bar. If he hadn't started shooting up the decorations in Swerve's bar, he wouldn't have ended up in Ultra Magnus's office with Ten, facing disciplinary measures.  
It wasn't until after, when he finally relented and entered Swerve's properly for the first time in a week, that he saw a moping Brainstorm being comforted by Nautica and gesturing halfheartedly at one of the infographic sheets. Picking up the copy nearest to him, Perceptor glanced through the history, then read it again more carefully. That was...not what he was expecting. When he looked back over at Brainstorm, he found his fellow scientist staring back at him, then at the flimsy in his hand. Brainstorm slipped out of his seat and threaded his way through the crowd and out the door, but Perceptor caught him before he could retreat to the solitude of his room. The infosheet waved between them, more as a gesture than something to be read from.  
"This is what all that was about, in the lab?"  
"I...Yes?"  
Perceptor dropped his forehelm into his hand.  
"Brainstorm, your plan was doomed to failure."  
Wings flinched and drooped as Brainstorm's shoulders hunched.  
"I know. I'm sorry. I'll stop, I never meant to get you into trouble, I just-"  
Fingertips on his faceplate stopped the ramble before it could start, and Perceptor took in the tenseness in Brainstorm's frame. Wings hiked up and defensive, head down, optics squeezed shut. Still waiting for the harsh words he expected were coming. Perhaps he should have worded that differently.  
"Both of us fools. I had no idea what you wanted of me."  
Perceptor untangled the fingers his partner had knotted together in front of him until he could take each of Brainstorm's hands in his, bringing them up between them.  
"I never took the time to find out what the cause of all the disruption in Swerve's was. I didn't understand why you would put something so extraneous inside our lab to start with. When you continued, I thought you were simply attempting to irritate me for some reason."  
Brainstorm shook his head slowly, back straightening.  
"I stopped doing that after I lost the briefcase. I was just...trying to get your attention."  
"You have it, Brainstorm. More of it than I would like, at times. I had thought that I had made that clear, but it seems I was mistaken. Can you forgive me my oversight?"  
Perceptor's tiny smile and the teasing look in his eyes made Brainstorm's wingtips wiggle with renewed excitement as the microscope allowed their forehelms to fall together, bringing their faces close enough that he could feel the other's ex-vents against his mask. Brainstorm managed a distracted nod- yes, he could forgive Perceptor near anything when he was looking at him like that. Brainstorm leaned closer...and Perceptor slid away, striding purposefully down the hall. By the time the jet had gathered himself enough to follow, he was alone.

The next morning Brainstorm had worked himself into a steady sulk, which lasted until he stepped into the lab to see a fresh ball of mistletoe hanging directly above his work station. Perceptor looked up from his own project at the sound of the door opening, setting it aside and wiping his hands before moving to meet his partner.  
"According to tradition, the mistletoe is meant to hang in a doorway or a public space, but I assumed this would be acceptable."  
A quick press of lips to the side of his mask, and Perceptor stepped back. Brainstorm couldn't keep his disappointment from showing as his fellow scientist reached up and plucked the cluster of leaves from the wire where it hang, and tossed it into the trash bin with his signature pinpoint accuracy.  
"There, your proper mistletoe kiss. One kiss for one berry, and when all the berries are gone, so too are the kisses."  
He opened his hand to show a small white orb before tucking it away into his subspace.  
"Now your plan has come to fruition. Are you satisfied with the outcome?"  
Brainstorm, still slightly stunned, reached up and touched his mask, slowly releasing the catches and letting the plating fall into his hands.  
"That's it?"  
"That is the traditional observance. I made sure to do a more thorough research into the subject last night."  
Brainstorm turned his mask in his hands, fingers skimming over the planes of the metal and the spot where a purple badge used to sit.  
"That's not...how I thought it was going to be."  
"There was some other element you were expecting?"  
"It looked like, ah, more? When the others did it."  
Perceptor moved close again, hands rising to find purchase on Brainstorm's frame.  
"More? You know, I believe I would like to kiss you again, without any of the rules regarding your odd decorations. Would that be agreeable?"  
Brainstorm nodded, still feeling a little stunned, as Perceptor stroked the tips of his fingers along the exposed mechanics of Brainstorm's jaw and dipped down to claim another kiss, this one searching and thorough enough for Brainstorm's fans to kick on. Perceptor released the brightly-colored mech only to lift his right hand and press his lips to the wrist where a briefcase had once been attached.  
"Love is not meant to be a shackle, Dearspark. Not something to be performed out of obligation. You need not find a device to trick your way into having my attention. I know I am not the most demonstrative partner, but I do not want you to allow yourself the belief that I care for you less because of it. You have never allowed yourself to be silenced in any other setting. I admire your devotion, your perseverance, your absolute genius, and I forget that all of that was something you were made to do alone. All I ask is that you let me know what you need from me, so that I may express myself in a way that will satisfy us both. This is, after all, a joint venture between the two of us. I cannot do it without your valuable input. So tell me, what is it you want?"  
Brainstorm managed a wavering smile that gradually firmed up into something happy, if sheepish. The hand Perceptor was holding twisted to lay along the microscope's cheek, and the other wove their fingers together and pulled him in to close the small distance between them.  
"I, uh, more of that, please? That is...I would really like you to kiss me again. Now?"  
Perceptor smiled back at him.  
"Now."

In Rodimus' defense, he was really, super great at grand gestures. Ultra Magnus just didn't know it.  
"The whole thing had gotten out of hand! Even Perceptor seems to have fallen prey to whatever madness is running through the crew!"  
Even the Stern, Disapproving Ultra Magnus voice couldn't keep Rodimus from grinning widely at his Second in command. He'd been waiting days for the other bot to bring it up with him, and now he couldn't keep a smirk off his face.  
"I kinda like it. A little bit of green and white, with that pretty bright red at the top...I personally would like to see more of that around here."  
The decorations, the excitement, the crew laughing and having fun, all of that was secondary for Rodimus. The whole point of pushing Swerve to put up the mistletoe in the first place was this moment, getting to see Ultra Magnus flush and fluster and try to frown at him and fail.


End file.
